Pages

Complexion product is the makeup item that I review the least
often. It’s not only that I don’t shop them often, but also the crazy truth of
my skin that I have to finish more than half a bottle before I finally know how
my skin would react to that product. The last product I reviewed was Urban
Decay NAKED Skin Weightless Makeup here, which now is at someone else’s vanity.
Don’t ask me why, I’ve finished half of the bottle before my skin finally gave
up and broke out very bad from it. IT WAS OKAY AT FIRST 50% WHY NOW IT TURNED
OUT VERY DIFFERENT? I just…didn’t know. So the search for the perfect base went
on, until I stumbled upon this not-so-loved-product: Estee Lauder Double Wear
Foundation.

Wait, what?

My skin reacted badly to it—twice, at different chances I
believe, one was at Estee counter and the other one was at my sweet seventeen
makeup test—so I was like this big MEH when received it. Nah, it’s not going to
work at me this time because it didn’t work on me last time I tried!

Why should I bother try it again? It’s like causing harm to myself.
But one day, I finally gave up and tried it.

It was the day that my life was totally changed!

Comes in frosted glass bottle packaging, it is indeed not
travel-friendly but yes it’s quite heavy thus looking expensive! The bottle has
rectangular shape with beautiful gold cap, which opens up by twisting it
because this product is a pour-out type: meaning no pump there. A big no,
actually. You can pour out too much and of course you would likely to put some
amount back and that’s not hygienic at all. Let’s be honest, you won’t let the
unused go on a waste eh? We’re so likely to forget and lose our mind when it
comes to economical thing: every little thing we could save, we would do.
LOLOLOL

Me? No I don’t do it, you know I’m much sensitive than my
face when it comes to breakout risks…I won’t…sacrifice my face in order just to
save some...

They have 31 shades in total, so worry not you will find one
that matches your skintone. I got this in shade #1W2 Sand. The letter in the
middle of two numbers represents the undertone of the shade; W being warm, C
for cool and N for neutral. Sand is a tad lighter than my own skintone, and
erhm, a lot lighter now since I got tanned after uni. It would be a perfect
shade for those who are NC20-25.

The constituency of this foundation is medium I would say,
not too thick but not runny either. It provides medium coverage upon one layer
of application and is buildable to full. Despite its texture, this liquid
foundation feels like dream once put on face. It’s very weightless and not
heavy as long as you don’t apply too much. It has velvet, demi-matte finish, so
I prefer working on some area first, got them done, to applying it all over
your face then blending it altogether.

see the lovely velvety finish? ;)

It stays velvety before the shine starts to reveal themselves
out in 5 hours and a half after the application. A great base for those with
oily-combination skin, yet it doesn’t get patchy over time. Actually I like
this foundation better when the shine starts to come out, because the oil
actually makes it looks more natural and blends with my own skin. Nevertheless,
I can blot the excess when I’m feeling too much oil on the bay eh? It’s good
that I blot and touch up less when I use this foundation, for a 8-10 hours
wear, I would just touch up once the most.

It has SPF in it but SURPRISINGLY, I did not break out from
it. How could that be? It contains physical sunscreen agent (titanium dioxide
as the active ingredient) yet it caused me not even one pimple. Maybe because
it’s only SPF 10? And it’s more a decorative makeup than real sunscreen, so I
cannot say much. But, but, it’s just weird! I usually break out even from SPF 6
(looking at you, Revlon Colorstay.) so this foundation is really awesome for
not breaking me out. Holy grail alert?

Retailing at $37(IDR 450,000) it’s definitely not too
expensive regarding the brand itself—it’s a high end, can’t you tell—and the
quality of this foundation. I would definitely repurchase it over and over
again, especially that it’s available locally here so I don’t have to order it
from overseas. Convenient much!

taken 3 hours after application and no blotting, no touch-ups. I swear this is a different photo with the one at my last post ;_;
same pose btw

Score

Last Words?

Sometimes, you got to give something their second chance.
This reformulated formula of Double Wear Foundation has won my heart and skin.
It feels lightweight and very comfortable when worn, definitely a winner
especially with its superb staying power and awesome coverage. It doesn’t cause
my skin pimples, bumps, irritation or whatsoever: it’s just perfect. Having SPF
10 in it doesn’t mean it’s enough, I would recommend wearing sunscreen
underneath if you intend to wear it in daytime. This product deserves perfect
score indeed!

***

This is my most-loved natural,
semi-matte foundation that doesn’t even accentuate dry patches on my skin on bad
skin days. What’s yours? Have you ever tried this product before? I’d totally
recommend this to you and I hope you are going to be sold to it just like how I
totally am now!

I used to think that reds would only suit those with
hourglass-type of body, the bombshell kind, with dark brown or black hair that
is curled or just naturally let flow with some big waves - what I would call a
perfect woman in terms of appearance. Me, with my chubby cheeks and "this
height", barely visible thigh gaps, and not-ready-for-lingerie-yet kind of
body, is not ideal to wear red AT ALL.

the right girl to wear red!

But guess what? It is now, the color red, of which dominates the two-third
part of my whole bullets.

Indeed that according to ancient Chinese belief, red is always associated to
joy and happiness. All in red is the best, from wedding decorations to clothing
picks at Lunar New Year celebration. But when it comes to our pout polish...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Asian girls mostly can
relate, so raise your voice now! I shall stand for all of you, because I have
been there too.

Red is definitely, most
anticipated lip color for a girl to have. Be it dark brick red or just the
bright, fire engine one. I get attacked, until now, if I wear red in
full-strength. After few months now they start to appreciate how it looks on
me, far better than how they used to be. The question is:HOW?

My BF was once in that
team too! He was that kind of typical boy that used to say, "you're
prettier without makeup, trust me," and another boring pick-up lines. But
today along with my younger brother he can already spot the differences in my red
lips: is it Burberry or Illamasqua? They can tell. I don’t lie,they really can.

The question is, once again, HOW?

And today's the day when I will tell you my secret to find the BF approved, (so
is family and friends) approved red lips!

#1 Pick One Based on
Your Skin Tone, Not (Really) Your Undertone

The first tip from me is already controversial. Are you sure
to keep reading on?
This is I believe is the most mistake we all at least, once, made. We usually
are drawn to the shade that is the most recommended by everyone, cult
favorites, and blogger's picks. Yep you can take notes on those popular shades,
but do remember those are BEST ON and FOR THEM, not for or on you. The best way
to know which red are going to work on you, is to try each of the possibly
different lipstick at counter. Advises are:

1. If you have fair-light skintone,
pick the ones that are fairly bright to
medium red in the color range.
2. If you're light to medium, try
those medium, true red to slightly
darker ones.
3. If you have dark skintone, dark to vampy reds will likely to
appear more true red on your lips than the brighter one.

Why? The intensity of the color is
what matters. Easy logic here, dark reds will definitely appear a lot
darker, bordering vampy/goth on fairer skintone. If you're fair or light, say
around NC10-15, medium to dark red is your best pick if you want your very own
deeper red shade. However if you're dark like around NC42 and up, medium red
will likely to appear bright and happy on you. Then the bright reds? They will
appear much brighter and even neon maybe, and "not-so-red" on
you-might be orange/pink instead! Got it already?

Now about the undertone. This is the most trusted and popular and used method
in picking the best red. Basically, everyone looks good in any red as long as
it's red. What's important is to pick any shade that has stronger red tone in comparison to other color element (orange/pink/brown/blue)
in it. Thus it shall turn out red on
you, despite what undertone your skintone and your lipstick has. What's about the
undertone (warmer/cooler) is that it matters to the impression you
wanna create!
For example, warmer skin with strong yellow undertone would look great with blue-based
red for classy look, but orange or brick red would look good for everyday wear.

☆ Pick the color that's not too neon or
eye-searingly bright so it doesn't attack your undertone back, making you look
weird.

#2 Wear What You Feel Confident In
A boring, a
should've-been-a-conclusion-kind of tip, but this is my main idea of wearing
red lipstick and of this post. What's the point of wearing even the most famous
red shade, if you're not confident or feeling great in it? You won't look like
living it, others will notice too! You don't wanna embarrass yourself and that
gorgeous lip color do you? Red is never wrong, your pick is. There will be
time, darling, to get used with the red you never get along well before. Key
is: be confident in it.

#3 Keeping All in Balance
Balance here means not every highlighted
feature or point of your look is screaming for attention. Smokey and red
lips, why not? If you want a heavier eye makeup, don't pick burning red color,
get a tamed one, for example. Basic instruction, but vital indeed!

#4 BROW BEFORE WOW
Brows. Brows. Brows. Beautiful red color is now painted perfectly on your lips
along with the eye makeup and blusher. Yay! But what is a beautiful painting—without
a great frame, it would be just be another unfinished work. Brows are your
face's frame. Do it perfect: be it
bold, thin, arched, straight, anything but NOT sparse or undone. This is
important, brows are the wow factor of the look and great God-given balancing
properties of upper and lower part of your face. If it's not perfect yet, it's
your time now to make it be!

brow: CHECKED!

#5 Match the Red to Your Style
Whoever said red is only for ladies, I do agree wholeheartedly. It's only for
the brave. A lady can be cute or seductive, it's all up to her as long as she
lives it well! Pick the red according to the style you wanna live by its
intensity. For my very own style, I love making red lips cute on me so that I
can embrace and enhance my naturally chubby cheeks with it. For sultry and
professional look, darker red would be perfect.

going bold and a bit vampy ;)

#6 Blushing Bride
It's the method of application and the
color of blusher that you should change depends on style of the day and the
red! Best blushing tricks are varying from one face shape to another (let's
talk more about it next time) but go try different tricks to fit it with the
lips and look. Skip bolder blush, let’s just get them natural this time, kay?
The most favorite blush application method of me is making the cheeks appear like if blushing from the inside. Straight-application method. This method works great to give younger effect to plus I don't contour my face when I use this method. Embracing youthfulness (?)

And that’s all you got to follow in order to achieve looks
like these…

cute impression

And this,

playful, eh?

And this,

sexy pin up girl. FINALLY I CAN MAKE IT HAHAHAHAHA

Aaaaaaaand finally this.

who said boys despise tomato, warm bright red?

I love how red can be very versatile: a morning stain-on-the-cup,
daytime professional wear, or sexy lady of the night. From Audrey Hepburn to
Rita Ora. It rocks in every wayw but never screams the same vibe for each
person except one: the truth of one’s strong personality inside. You can be an
angel, a mother, a devil, and even a Lady just with a swipe of red lipstick.
Don’t be shy, you will get to nowhere if you’re afraid to try new things (and
reds as well). Red doesn’t have to scream sexy, it can scream playfulness and
send energetic youth vibes also.

I hope this post helps you to take one step ahead out of your
comfort zone! And tell me: What’s your BF-approved red lipstick and what’s your
favorite? Share your looks in red lips with hashtag #BFapprovedRED on Instagram, would love to see your photos! Spread
the love and kiss them red. XOXO~~!

meet my BF~~

***

P.S: Quick survey! Do you think I should share my red lipstick collections to all of you? I have more than 10 bullets, for sure...let me know if you want me to do a post and swatches for comparison. Yay for red!